Coin-operated vending-machine.



No. 770,928. PATENTED SEPT. 27, 1904 J. A. RULE.

COIN OPERATED VENDING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG.14, 1903.

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APPLICATION FILED AUG. 14, 1903.

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C,l l a QMWAM No. 770,928. PATENTED SEPT. 27, 1904.

" J. A. RULE.

COIN OPERATED VENDING-.MAGHINE.

APPLIUATIOH rum) AUG. 14, 1903.

NO MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHI7ET a.

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- MW/M UNITED STATES Patented September 27, 1904.

PATENT O FICE.

JOHN A. RULE, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN NEWS PAPERDISTRIBUTING COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A' CORPORATION OF SOUTHDAKOTA. 1

COIN-OPERATED VENDING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 770,928, datedSeptember 27, 1904,

Application filed August 14:, 1903. Serial No. 169,440. (No model.)

To a. whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN A. RULE, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Cincinnati, county of Hamilton, State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCoin-OperatedVending-Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my invention is a vending-machine which may be operated byone or more small coins or by a larger coin, in the latter case themachine delivering to the purchaser his change.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention as applied to anewspaper-vending machine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 isv ,a rear elevation of apaper-vending machine embodying my invention, the rear plate of thecasing being removed to expose the interior mechanism. Fig. 2 is asectional view taken upon line 00 a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a View takenupon line y y of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of thepaper-receptacle. Fig. 5 is an end view of the same. Fig. 6 is a detailperspective view, upon an enlarged scale, of one of the levers forholding theswinging doors in the bottom of the paper-receptacle. Fig. 7is a detail perspective view, upon an enlarged scale, of one of theswinging doors. Figs. 8 and 9 are detail side elevations of thecoin-chute, showing it regulated for different denominations of coins.

Within casing A is a receptacle a, divided by partitions a intocompartments (0 for the reception of papers. In the bottom of eachcompartment is a swinging door (0 which is held closed by a lever a anumber of which are pivoted to the end of receptacle a and have theirlower hooked ends engaging lugs a upon the swinging doors. The upperends of the levers have knobs a. Within each of the compartments a anewspaper is to be placed, and when the upper end of one of the levers ais pressed inward the door a is released and drops of its own weight,thereby discharging the newspaper in its compartment through the bottomof the case A, which is open.

Levers a have their upper ends in the path of an arm 6, which is securedupon a horizontal shaft B. Shaft B has attached to it a coiled spring 6and a ratchetwheel 6 Ratchet-Wheel b is held against rotation by a pawl5 which is secured upon a lever 6 the lower end of which comesvertically beneath the coin-chute C, so that when the coin passes downthrough the chute it strikes the lever If, throws the pawl Z2 out ofengagement with the ratchet-wheel b and allows the wheel and shaft B torotate through one step, and spring 6 throws the pawl into engagementwith the next tooth of the ratchet-wheel. The rotation of the shaft Bthrough one step rotates the arm I) likewise through one step and causesit to release the next door a of the newspaper-receptacle. The speed atwhich the main shaftB rotates is regulated byaset of governors D.

The price of papers as a rule is one, two, and three cents. Sometimes itmay be desired, as in the morning, to sell papers for two cents and inthe evening for one cent. My machine has a ready means for regulatingthe machine so that it may be operated by one cent or by two cents.Sometimes the purchaser has not a cent in change. With my machine he mayput a nickel in the slot and get three cents change if the machine beset for a two-cent paper or four cents in change if it be set for aone-cent paper. The machine may likewise be set for selling only anickel paper, in which event a cent or two cents would not operate it.The means by which these ends are attained will now be de scribed.

The upper end of coin chute C has the lower side removed down to thepoint 0. Lead- 7 ing from the slot 0 into the chute are ledges 0 formedupon the sides of the chute and of a distance apart such that they willsupport a nickel and carry it into the coin-chute to operate the leverb. A one-cent piece would not slide on the ledges 0 but would fall uponlever 0 which is pivoted at the upper end of the chute beneath the slot0. The inner end of the lever c is supported by a lever 0 which ispivoted to the upper ends of the chute O and has a weight 0 at one end.The position at which the lever 0 stands is regulated by an arm 0,pivoted upon the upper end of the chute. At the inner end of the lever ca vertical flange c is formed near the upper end of the coin-chute belowledges 0 When it is desired tohave the machine operated by one cent, thearm a is placed in the position shown in Fig. 8, so that the cent iscarried over the top of the flange 0 When it is desired to require morethan one cent to operate the machine, arm 0 is'arranged, as shown inFig. 2, so that lever 0 stands below flange 0 If it be desired to havetwo cents operate the machine, the weight 0 is regulated upon the lever0 so that the weight of two-cents will carry lever 0 down and allow thepennies to pass into chute C below flange c. If it is desired that themachine be operatedsimply by a nickel, lever 0 is dropped, as shown inFig. 9, so that pennies cannot be passed into the coin-chute at all.

The means by which the change is returned to the purchaser when heplaces a nickel in the slot in buying a paper which sells for a smalleramount is as follows: Mounted in vertical ways e upon the door adjacentto the coinchute is a sliding change-receptacle E, which is divided byslanting partitions into compartments 0 within which pennies are placed,the number placed in each compartment depending upon the price of thepaper. For instance, if it be a two-cent paper three pennies will beplaced in each compartment 6 or if it be a three-cent paper two pennies.When the compartment is brought to register with the delivery-opening othe change passes out therethrough.

The means by which the coin-receptacle is set by the insertion of anickel so that it is operated by the turning of the shaft B will now bedescribed. Upon the side of the change-receptacle adjacent to thecoin-chute are a series of teeth 6 and upon the side of the receptacleaway from the coin-chute are a series of teeth a, the teeth 6 being in adifferent horizontal planefrom the teeth 6 The teeth 6 are engaged by alever F, the upper end of which limits the size of the coin-slot 0, sothat whenanickel is inserted therethrough lever F is-rotated slightlyabout its pivot and disengages its lower end from the teeth 6 allowingthe coin-receptacle to drop a short distance until the next one of theteeth 0 is engaged by lever G. The lever F is then returned to itsnormal position by the springf to engage the next one of the teeth 6after the lever G has been disengaged from the tooth e which it isengaging. Lever G has its lower end 9 in contact with the toothed wheelg, mounted upon shaft B, so that when the shaft B is turned by the coinsdropping upon lever b the lower end g of the lever is pushed inward bythe teeth of the wheel 9 and allows the coin-receptacle E to drop downin front of the coin-discharge opening 6 its through the slot wouldoverbalance arm 0 and g they would pass on down through the coinchute,strike lever d", and release from wheel 0i and actuate the deliverymechanism. The

' movement of lever d likewise moves lever G; but as the coin-receptacleis not restlng upon it its movement does not afiect the receptacle. Hada nickel been inserted into the slot it would have moved lever F,allowing the receptacle to descend and rest on lever Gr,so that as thenickel passed on down thechute when it moved lever 03* the latter wouldhave moved lever G and released the receptacle to allow it to fall, sothat its next compartment would register with the change-delivery slot 0at the same time that it released the delivery mechanism.

What I claim is- 1. In a coin-operated device the combination of adelivery mechanism adapted to be actuated automatically by a large orsmall coin, a coin-chute for the coins leading to the deliverymechanism, a change-discharging device adapted to be actuated by thedelivery mechanism, and means whereby the insertion of a large coin setsthe change device in a condition to be actuated by the deliverymechanism.

2. In a coin-operated device the combination of a coin-chute, means fordirecting a small or V a larger coin into the chute, a delivery mech-.anism to be operated by either the small or the larger coins, achange-receptacle for holding smaller coins, means for coupling thechange-receptacle and the delivery mechanism, means for holding thechange-receptacle out of engagement with the delivery mechanism to beactuated by a large coin whereby the insertion of a large coin actuatesboth the change-receptacle and the delivery mechanism and a small coinactuates only the delivery mechanism.

3. In a coin-operated device the combination of a coin-chute, means fordirecting a small or a larger coin into the chute, a delivery mechanismto be operated by either the small or the larger coins, a verticalsliding change-receptacle divided into a series of compartments,

a discharge-outlet, two levers for successively engaging thechange-receptacle for bringing one of the compartments to register withthe discharge-outlet, means for actuating the first lever by theinsertion of a large coin and means for actuating the second leverthrough the movement of the delivery mechanism, substantially as shownand described.

4:. In a coin-operated device the combination of a delivery mechanism, acoin-chute for carrying coins for actuating the delivery mechanism, away leading into the coin-chute consisting of ledges at a distance apartsuch as to support a large coin and to drop the smaller coin, a leverpivoted beneath the way to receive the smaller coins, a flange in thecoinchute in front of the lever, a weight for holding the lever normallyin front of the flange Y to prevent the coins upon the lever fromentering the chute and to be overbalanced by" the weight of the coinsand then directing them into the chute substantially as shown anddescribed.

5. In a coin-operated device the combination of a delivery mechanism, acoin-chute for carrying coins for actuating the delivery mechanism, away leading into the coin-chute consisting of ledges at a distance apartsuch as to support a large coin and to drop the smaller coin, a leverpivoted beneath the way to receive the smaller coins, a flange in thecoinchute in front of the lever, a weight for holding the lever normallyin front of the flange to prevent the coins upon the lever from enteringthe chute and to be overbalanced by the weight of the coins directingthem into the chute, and a means for setting the lever to direct asingle coin past the flange.

6. In a coin-operated device the combination of a delivery mechanism, acoinchute for carrying coins for actuating the delivery mechanism, a wayleading into the coin-chute consisting of ledges at a distance apartsuch as to support a large coin and to drop the smaller coin, a leverpivoted beneath the way to receive the smaller coins, a flange in thecoinchute in front of the lever, a weight for holding the lever normallyin front of the flange to prevent the coins upon the lever from enteringthe chute and to be overbalanced by theweight of the coins directingthem into the chute, and a change-receptacle to be actuated by thedelivery mechanism when a large coin is inserted in the chute.

JOHN A. RULE.

Witnesses:

A. MoCoRMAoK, GEO. J. MURRAY.

